EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT DELHI MUNICIPAL CORPORATION AND ELECTIONS

Delhi Municipal Corporation Elections are at hand and every party contesting in elections is under pressure. Bharatiya Janata Party has the challenge to win the 2022 Municipal elections for the 4th time whereas other parties have the challenge to win the elections themselves. Municipal Corporation Elections are an important subject in Delhi and DMC  2022 elections are nearby. This article will help you understand everything about Municipal Corporation elections and roles. 

In India, all the cities with more than 10 lakhs population need to have a municipal corporation. 

The municipal corporation is a local government body. It is an organization that is responsible for citizens well being, roads, water supplies, drainage, etc. It’s also known as Mahanagar Palika, Nagar Palika, Nagar Nigam, City Corporation, etc. 

Capital City Delhi is spread over an area of 1,484 km and has 5 municipal bodies. These corporations are spread in the East, North, and South and different regions of Delhi. These municipal corporations are : 

1. North Delhi Municipal Corporation 
2. South Delhi Municipal Corporation 
3. East Delhi Municipal Corporation 
4. Delhi Cantonment board 
5. New Delhi Municipal Council 

While New Delhi Municipal Council comes directly under the states and no elections are held for this and Delhi Cantonment Board comes under the ministry of defense. The other three municipal corporations come under the Directorate of Local Bodies. 

The roles and responsibilities of these three DMCs are the same as other municipal corporations in India. They manage water supply, hospitals, dispensaries, drainage systems, roads, markets, buildings, garbage, waste management, street lights, toll taxes, primary school management, etc. in the city. They also look after construction work in city, collect property taxes and maintain birth and death records of the area. 

MCD elections are only held for North, South, and East MCDs and they cover around 96% of Delhi’s geographic area and have an almost equal population.MCD has 272 wards, 4 wards in each of the 68 assembly sections( DCB and NDMC excluded).

In the 2017 MCD elections, BJP won 181 out of 270 seats in all three municipal corporations while AAP won only 48 seats and the Congress party was badly defeated with only 30 seats in all the three municipal corporations.

In the 2022 elections, 1 party and 2 Alliances are participating in the contest. These are the Aam Aadmi Party, NDA, and UPA. It will be interesting to see which party rules over Delhi’s municipal corporations for a few years.

AASTHA SINGH